If you have been served with a court summons in Nebraska, it is imperative that you respond to the lawsuit correctly. Here is what you need to do:
- File a WRITTEN REPLY to the lawsuit with the Clerk of the Court. The summons typically says that an “appropriate response” must be issued within 30 days. What does that mean? (No, calling up the plaintiff’s attorney office and giving them a piece of your mind is not enough.) What this means is that you must file a written reply, you must sign the reply, and it file it with the Clerk of the Court within 30 days.
- A standard reply form is usually provided by the Clerk of the Court. (Here is a link to the Appearance & General Denial form.) Write your name, address, phone number, the case number and then sign the form. Have the Clerk of the Court then file your response in the court record. You should also mail a copy to the creditor’s attorney. An even better response form is found here.
- Demand an Accounting. Send the attorney for the creditor a letter to demand a list of all the payments and charges to your account.
- Request for Production of Documents. Request all the documents relevant to the case, including the contract, billing statements, correspondence, etc. Many creditors, especially credit card debt buyers, do not have the documents to prove you owe the debt.
- Affirmative Defenses: You may want to assert certain affirmative defenses, such as the Statute of Limitations which bars claims that are too old. In Nebraska the Statute of Limitations on a written contract is typically 5 years from the date of last payment and 4 years for an oral contract.
- Countersuit: Perhaps you have a claim against the creditor. If the doctor suing for unpaid medical bills committed malpractice, you should ask the court to give you compensation for the damages caused.
- Seek Legal Advice: Ask an attorney review your written reply. Believe it or not, most attorneys are really nice people and they don’t mind taking a quick look at what you have written.
- Negotiate the Debt. One of the main benefits to filing a written response to a lawsuit is that it makes the creditor more willing to negotiate the debt. Contact the creditor’s attorney (here is a link to find the attorney’s phone and email address) and make an offer. Most creditors will accept a reasonable settlement offer.
Failure to respond to a court summons within the time allows will result in the creditor obtaining a “default judgment.” A bill collector that obtains a Default Judgment has the power to garnish up to 25% of your paycheck and all of the money in your bank account. Filing a written response with the Court will prevent a Default Judgment from being entered.
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My husband and I was summoned to appear for repossession of premises and appeared in court on 9/9/2015 and afterwards we received an invoice of outrageous and false charges in reference to Physical damages to apartment, but I have video of apartment, the day before there entrance. I called them disputing charges and was told they would get back with us.I also would like to countersuit for negligence, that caused me and my husband respiratory infection and light bill charged for their heavy machinery running for 5 days all day n night to dry bathroom from water damage that was incurred from upstair apartment water leak, I need guidance on what we need to do to get this back before a judge. Thank you, The Tyler’s
What you need to do right now is to file a written response to the lawsuit denying all the alleged damage. Read this article to learn how to file a response. When you file the written response you can include the countersuit. After you have responded to their allegations, start a new paragraph with the title “Countersuit.” Then, explain the damages the landlord for the respiratory infection and the light bill. A lawsuit is nothing more than a statement of facts. State the facts simply, one by one.
Remember, there is no court hearing until you file a written response to the lawsuit with the Clerk of the Court. Get that written response on file with the court. Send a copy to the landlord’s attorney.
hi I have a medical debt refered to colelctions. I had auto payments set up and I even called mca to up the amt of the auto withdrawls to get it done faster. I had multiple accts being auto drafted and one dropped of w/ zero bal at the same time these auto payments ran out of authorization. I did not know it had run out I thought it was zero. so 6 months have passed and now I am getting sued for less than 800$ I have not yet been served through legal solicitation materials I found this and who was suing. I called them they would not take payment in full as process in place and stated I would be served. they said they sent the most recent letter to me last month I NEVER got a letter , they at the beginning of call kept asking if I was a michelle a. at a different address I kept saying no and repeating mine. I have not moved in 7 years I own my home and am at the same job 8 yrs right across st from mca. I wondered if after I am served can I in my court answer pay the amt due in one payment to avoid my credit getting hit w/ judgement? Do I pay mca directly for debt which is not in dispute and processing/ service costs? I have nothing from them w/ regard to this as of this date .
ps 🙂 they also would not readily accept any pre-authorized withdrawls from same acct for amt previously agreed upon stating I had” quit” paying.
Michelle,
Yes, you can immediately pay the debt after filing a written Answer to the lawsuit. Although it may seem strange to dispute a debt and then to immediately pay it, but it makes perfect sense to do this. What you are doing is that you are preventing a Default Judgment from being entered against you. That will keep a judgment from being reported on your credit report. Generally, the credit bureaus do not report each new lawsuit field against you, but the do report every judgment. By filing a written answer you are giving yourself time to pay the amount owed. Filing an answer will normally delay the creditor by 60 to 90 days. You can pay the creditor directly or you may make a payment through the court. I would probably send money orders to the creditor’s attorney and write your name and case number on the money order. When the account is paid the creditor will normally dismiss the lawsuit.
Michelle, it is really common to get sued by collection agencies even when you are making payments. What is interesting about your case is that you had reached a verbal agreement with MCA to make payments and that agreement is verified by the establishment of a automatic payment deducted from your bank account. It would be really hard for MCA to deny the existence of a formal payment agreement since you had to sign something to establish the automatic payment.
First, make sure you file a written response to the lawsuit with the Clerk of the Court. Second, you may have a valid argument that MCA violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by initiating a lawsuit when in a payment agreement is already in place. That is an unfair collection practice. Under FDCPA you are entitled to attorney fees and a minimum $1,000 damage award if you win the case. So, if you file a written response and counter-sue for FDCPA violations, they may drop their lawsuit. I would consult with a FDCPA lawyer to see if they would take your case.
Third, call MCA’s attorney after you have filed your written response. Their attorney may not be aware that you had a payment agreement in place.
I defaulted on a auto loan, and my vehicle was repossessed. I told the creditor to come get the vehicle. After they sold the vehicle thru auction they say I owe over $9000. Not sure if bankruptcy is a needed action. Wages are already being garnished for back child support. Can they garnish my wages?
It depends. If you income is decent they may garnish for the auto loan deficiency in addition to the child support.
I was named as a Co-Defendant to a suit involving a daycare. The billing statements were not in my name and only sent to the mother. I filed an answer to the lawsuit and emailed the attorney listed on the lawsuit for a Production of Documents in early June. I never received any Production of Documents, but today, 2.5 months later, I received the interrogatories, production of documents, and Request of Admission from a new lawyer that they have now apparently hired. My question is, with my original request never being fulfilled, do I have to request this information from the new lawyer, or can I file a motion with the court that I never received the information I requested over 2.5 months ago?
First off, I really congratulate you for filing a written response to the lawsuit. By doing that you prevented a default judgment from being entered against you.
Even though they did not respond to your Request for Production of Documents, you still need to reply to their discovery requests. Now, what about their lack of answers? The next step is to file a Motion to Compel with the court to demand answers. When you file that motion you should make sure a court hearing is scheduled by the court. Chances are they will respond to the request prior to the hearing.
By the way, this case is a good example of why you should send the other part Requests for Admission. If they fail to answer those questions in 30 days they are deemed to admit each answer.
I might add to the above comment that I plan on filing a Chapter 7…..
End of last month I was served documents stating that I was going to be sued and why. Just today I receive a letter stating that the court date has come and gone and that they will be garnishing my wages and my bank account. That was all I received; I was NEVER notified of a court date and because of that they were able to rule this. I am the head of my household, my husband’s and my paychecks go into my bank account for me to pay bills and buy groceries. I have two children to support as well. What can I do? How do I prevent my bank account being drained? If this happens I will not be able to keep my house warm this winter, I won’t be able to feed my family.
Destiny,
This is a common misconception. You assume that there will be a court date scheduled to present your side of the argument, but when you get sued THERE IS NO COURT DATE! Instead, you must respond to lawsuit by filing a written response with the court within 30 days. You only get a court date when you respond to the lawsuit in writing.
So, now what do you do? Well, you could ask the the court to vacate the judgment because you did not understand the rules. (See http://www.nebraskadebtbankruptcyblog.com/2014/10/how-to-vacate-a-default-judgment/ ).
I would also suggest you call the attorney for the collection company to inform them that you are a head of household. Also, do not keep money in your bank account until this judgment is paid. You may want to consider opening a new bank account at a bank you never used before.
My fiancé has received notice a summons and wage garnishment for $1000 to be paid to his now ex wife. It was in the divorce decree to pay by October. We already paid $500 and have proof. We also can not appear in court as we live in New York and can not afford a lawyer. What do we do now?
Even though you have moved to New York, you can still request a garnishment hearing and then call the court to see if they will allow a telephone hearing. Here is the form you need to send to the court: http://www.samturcolaw.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Request-for-Garnishment-Hearing.pdf . Most courts accommodate parties who reside outside the state with telephone hearings. You should also submit a copy of the $500 payment to the court so they have a record of that payment. You can file the payment receipt as an Exhibit.
You question sheds light on an important issue. How can you be given credit for making a payment on a judgment? The answer is to make the payment through the Clerk of the Court instead of the creditor directly. The Clerk of the Court will remit the payment to the creditor and will keep a record of the payment. Perhaps this payment has been recorded by the court. You can find out by going to https://www.nebraska.gov/justicecc/ccname.cgi to search the court record.
My husband received a summons for medical debt. The multiple amounts they are suing for come from me and him. We filed an answer because we never received any bills and no contact from the debt collector being represented. They then send us a copy of the papers they received from the hospital (which shows a zero balance because I guess that’s how they fill them out when they turn over the debt) and told us that we would have received similar and they don’t know why we didn’t. They then state that they would assume we would check in debt ourselves if we received the services. Here’s the issue, before my husband could ever have the procedure, they told us we had to wait for them to have it approved by insurance and then we were told it was approved and we could move forward. Some of the debt was for apparent Copays, but we were never told at the time of service about any cost and or insurance dues not have copay. Furthermore, hospital requires all copayment at the time of service. There was no way to see this coming because we were told that the insurance approved it. Since they replied to our answer, but didn’t really do anything but show us the amount they owe ($0.00) and say we would have something similar, what do we do now?
Tiffany, this complaint is so common. Medical debts are the #1 reason people wind up filing bankruptcy. Even when you have health insurance and follows the rules, it seems like insurance companies always find ways to deny a claim. You did right by filing a response to the lawsuit. I would complain to your insurance company and maybe even file a complaint with the Nebraska Department of Insurance. It seems wrong that they told you the procedure was covered and then, when it turns out it was not covered, they expect you to clean up their mess. I would go on the offensive. There is a legal procedure to join other necessary parties to a lawsuit. Should you petition the court to join your insurance company and the hospital in the lawsuit so this mess can be sorted out? I would consider that option. To solve problems in this life, sometimes you need to get all the people involved in the same room to sort it out. When everyone is present, solutions seem to come forward.
If someone is in debt, how the hell are they going to afford all that professional bullshit? Get real man… Jesus!
It costs nothing to file a written response to the court, but it will cost you dearly if you do not.
How do you file a written response from out of state?
You mail the written response to the Clerk of the court. The address of the Clerk should be on the top of the court summons you received.
Right before Christmas I received letters from a couple of bankruptcy lawyers saying they see a lawsuit had been filed against me, contact them to look at bankruptcy options, etc. I still have not received anything from whatever company filed the suit, nor the courthouse, telling me I have been sued. How do I proceed here? I have no paperwork etc to file a response to a lawsuit I would have no knowledge of if the bankruptcy lawyers wouldn’t have sent me correspondence.
If i close my joint checking account because the credit card company is suing me can my wife open her own checking account and not have her account garnish? We live in Nebraska
Yes, your wife can open her own account and not be garnished (as long as she is not being sued as well.)
A debt collector is trying to sue me in Nebraska for an alleged debt (I still dispute the validity) that, IF valid, occurred in California with a creditor located in California. The debt collector is also from California, but also has offices in Virginia, the law firm they used are also from California.
In other words there is no way they can claim that they should be able to file the lawsuit in Nebraska, but the problem I have is I can’t figure out how to respond in Nebraska while living in California. Obviously flying there won’t work, it would cost more than they claim I owe.
Can a response in Nebraska be done my mail? After all it is clear that Nebraska is the wrong state for this to be filed in under the FDCPA, but since the debt collector has already violated this at least three times previously, this isn’t surprising. And yes, I have records of each violation. I wouldn’t have an issue if the suit were filed in California, I would simply go and fight it, but filing in Nebraska is not right in this case and makes it harder to fight.
Hi We received a summons for a tax sale certificate. If we don’t pay we lose our house to pay the back taxes owed on the house. We contacted the attorney listed in the summons and found out the exact amount owed. We paid the amount in full by cashier’s check as instructed. I received an email from the attorney stating he would file a dismissal with the district court and notify the county treasurer. I also asked the attorney if there is anything else we need to do. He stated that everything was in order. I still have 7 days from today before the 30 days to respond is up. I was told that paying the debt was a response to the summons. I didn’t know to write a written response until today. Should I now do a written response as well? I do not want a default judgement since that means I lose my house. I’m not sure what to do? Thank you.